Rare Greenpeace concert recording out soon

This detail from the cover art for a Greenpeace Concert album shows James Taylor and Joni Mitchell performing in 1970. (Greenpeace)

The 1970 Vancouver music concert that is credited with launching the environmental activist organization Greenpeace is being released as a special double CD, featuring performances by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and the late Phil Ochs.

The recording, titled Amchitka, the 1970 concert that launched Greenpeace, will be available for purchase on Nov. 10, Greenpeace Canada announced Thursday in a news release.

According to the organization, the fundraising concert provided seed money for a boatload of activists to travel to the Aleutian Island of Amchitka to disrupt planned nuclear bomb tests.

While that effort was not successful, the boat - christened The Greenpeace - lent its name to what would become a leading voice in the activist movement.

The concert itself was notable in featuring Joni Mitchell, who was then a rising star in the music world. The Alberta-born, Saskatchewan-raised folk singer shared the stage with James Taylor. Mitchell was 26 and had just been named Top Female Performer of 1970 by a popular music magazine. Taylor was 22 and had released the album Sweet Baby James eight months earlier.

The Greenpeace show took place at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver on Oct. 16, 1970.

While it was professionally recorded, the tapes were never released. The compact disc release will include the entire concert, including individual performances, duets, and chit-chat between the artists.

More details about the songs performed were expected to be released next week along with audio samples.

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